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SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 88 - siddhah.

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champakam • March 19, 2003 


      SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 88 - siddhah.

825. siddhah –  a) He Whose protection is ever available without any 
special effort on the part of His devotees.
		b) He Who is the siddhopAya – the already existing 
means - for attaining moksham.
		c) He Who is fully accomplished, without dependence 
on anyone or anything else.
		d) He Who makes His devotees accomplished – in their 
tapas and other efforts to attain Him.
		e) He Who gave us the SAstra-s, or He Who bestows 
auspiciousness on us   
		f) The final conclusion – the Ultimate Truth – 
through all means of proof available to us.
		g) He Who accomplishes all His undertakings 
flawlessly to completion and perfection.

om siddhAya namah.

The root from which the nAma is derived is sidh – samrAddhau – to 
reach, to attain one's end, to succeed, to accomplish.  We came 
across a series of nAma-s based on this root in Slokam 27 – nAma-s 
253 to 256  - siddhArthah, siddha-samkalpah, siddhi-dah, siddhi-
sAdanah.  In the current context, the nAma is interpreted as "One Who 
is already materialized as a Protector of us, One Who helps us 
materialize our objectives, One Who is perfect, One Who makes us 
perfect",  stc. 

a) SrI BhaTTar's vyAkhyAnam is that His protection is available to 
His devotees without any special effort on their part.  The act of 
protecting His devotees in natural to Him, is ever existent in Him, 
and is not conditioned by anything – asya goptRtvam aupAdhikam, sadA 
svata eva sarva-goptRtvAt , a-yatna sAdhyah siddhah.   

SrI v.v.v rAmAnujan refers us to nammAzhvAr's tiruvAimozhi 5.7.10 in 
support:  ARu enakku nin pAdamE SaraN enRu ozhindAi  - "My goal is 
Your Feet.  The means, or upAya, is also to cling to Your Feet".  
These Feet of emperumAn already exist for our clinging without any 
effort on our part, and so He is siddhah.  

nammAzhvAr describes that bhagavAn is already materialized for our 
protection (siddhah) since He rushes to us to give us vaikunTham just 
for our chanting His many nAma-s:

	naNNinam nAraAyaNanai nAma'ngaL pala Solli
	maN ulagil vaLam mikka vATTARRAn vandu ninRu 
	viN ulagam taruvAnAi viraiginRAn vidi vagaiyE
	eNNinavARAgA ik-karuma'ngaL en ne'njE!                     
(tiruvAi. 10.6.3)

"We approached nArAyaNa by reciting His names which are expressions 
of His qualities.  The Lord comes and hastens to hand over SrI 
vaikunTha lokam itself to us, to enjoy at our will, whenever we wish 
it.  He has come the whole way through, taken residence near us  in 
TiruvaTTARu, and waits, even though He is in a great hurry to take 
me.  O my mind! You were very co-operative; otherwise, this could not 
have happened".  

b) SvAmi deSikan explains that among the upAya-s or means for 
attaining Him, He is Himself the already existing siddha upAyam – 
siddhopAyastu muktau niravadhika dayah SrI-sakhah sarva-Saktih – 
SrIman nArAyaNa, with infinite mercy and infinite Sakti, is the 
siddha upAyam in the matter of bestowing moksham (nyAsa vimSati 17) – 
the means that already exists without requiring any special effort on 
our part to create this upAya or means;  all we need to is follow one 
of the sAdhya upAya-s - either the bhakti or the prapatti mArgam, and 
He is the pre-existing means (siddha upAya) that will grant the 
moksham.   

c) SrI Sa'nkara gives the interpretation that the nAma signifies that 
He is perfect – fully accomplished, without dependence on anyone 
else – ananyAdhIna siddhitvAt siddhah.

d) SrI ananta kRshNa SAstry gives the interpretation that the nAma 
can also mean that He is One who makes others perfect through their 
devotion to Him – The good ones attain perfection or full fruition in 
tapas, salvation, etc., by serving Him.  

SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri also gives a similar dual interpretation – He 
is siddhah because He gives siddhi to the practitioners of the vrata-
s etc., and He is siddha because He has attained siddhi in all 
respects.    He gives support from nRsimhottara tApanI 9.9 -    
sadevapurastAt siddham hi brahma.

e) SrI satya sandha yatirAja gives a new interpretation – sidham 
ma'ngalam SAstram vA dhatta iti sid-dhah -   He Who gave us the 
SAstra-s, or He Who bestows auspiciousness on us.  He uses the root 
shidhU – SAstre mA'ngalye ca – "to ordain, command, instruct, to turn 
out well or auspiciously", and the root dhA – dhAraNa poshNayoh dAne 
ca –  "to put, to grant, to produce, to bear" in this 
interpretation.     

f) SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj gives the explanation that the nAma 
means that bhagavAn is the Ultimate End or the Final conclusion of 
all enquiries – siddhyati sma siddhah – bhagavAn hi sakalaih 
pramANaih siddhah;  tatra pratyaksham pramANam bhaktAnAm, anumAnam 
pramANam tArkikANAm, Sabda pramANam ca Sruti-SAstrANAm, evam pramANa-
tryamapi Sri bhagavantam sAdhayati – For the devotees, He is the 
prayaksha pramANam, for the analysts He is the final result of the 
analysis, and He is the Sabda pramANam as declared loudly in the 
Sruti-s and SAstra-s.  So He is the end result of all means of 
establishing the Ultimate Truth.

g) SrI satyadevo vAsishTha's anubhavam is that the nAma refers 
to "One Who accomplishes everything there is to accomplish, with no 
effort" – Srama klamtandrAbhih varjito yatnApekshAsiddhiSca siddhah.  
Or, "He who accomplishes everything to completion and perfection 
always" is siddhah – sarvato bhAvinI SAsvatI siddhih asya iti 
siddhah.  He refers to bhagavAn's creation of the universe and its 
functioning flawlessly, with the right mix of air, heat, water, 
different species, etc., as He decides.    

SrI BhaTTar has interpreted the nAma-s in terms of bhagavAn's direct 
incarnations.  The interpretation of the next few nAma-s will be in 
terms of His indirect incarnations – that is, those in which He 
enters into others and acts.

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan





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